Ahmet Dayı

Uncle Ahmet from Iskilip... From Emre Bostancı's lens...

13.11.2016

Emre Bostancı

Uncle Ahmet. He is known as “toka” (“buckle” in English) in the region. When we asked why this nickname was given to him, he said, “There was a shepherd in Kırköy; they called him as it. He died; his children inherited his sheep, his name also passed to me.” He’s over seventy years old and the eldest of five siblings. He’s a shepherd for as long as he’s known himself and he has no intention of quitting his job.

Old houses in Erzurum smell the history abundantly. Patriarchal family tree pervaded over the rooms designed to open into each other. This large family order consisting of grandfather, grandmother, father, mother and children has been transformed into a life shelter according to the Islamic principles in old houses of Erzurum.